CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Midterm conflicts still unresolved #RememberMississippi

One of the most contentious internecine battles between the GOP Establishment and the TEA Party in the 2014 midterm elections was the primary race between Sen. Thad Cochran and  State Senator Chris McDaniel. While most of the allegations of wrong doing may have long been forgotten, a new allegation that has come to light.

 

A Super PAC intended to support Chris McDaniel in Mississippi was apparently waved off by the Super PAC’s lead counsel due to a possible conflict with other clients. Namely, Sen. Thad Cochran and the Mississippi State Republican Party.

 

Last week Aaron Gardner laid out the allegations about not only the Mississippi case, but also an incident in which the same Super PAC had to pull back from efforts to assist Det Bowers in his failed primary bid against entrenched establishment GOP Senator Lindsey Graham.

 

According to Gardner, Chris Gober, the former lead counsel for the Vote 2 Reduce Debt (V2RD) Super PAC, has not yet answered questions regarding his business relationships with Sen. Thad Cochran, the Mississippi GOP, and Sen. Lindsey Graham. Gardner has reached to the Mississippi GOP, Sen. Thad Cochran, and Sen. Lindsey Graham for comment on the possible conflicts, but has not received responses to his inquiries.

 

Potential conflicts of interest can be nightmares for many lawyers. Ethical codes and guidelines are often ambiguous and leave attorneys with few bright lines to warn you away from every possible potential conflict of interest.

 

That said, these are still important issues that should be addressed, especially when you consider them in the context of elections and the extremely narrow margins with which Sen. Thad Cochran achieved his victory over Chris McDaniel.

 

Thousands of conservative activists around the country who consistently show up for the GOP deserve to get answers from not only Chris Gober, but also from Sen. That Cochran, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and the Republican Party of Mississippi.

 

Did relationships between Gober and Cochran, Graham, and the Mississippi GOP cause a conflict with the job Gober was doing at V2RD? Who, if any of the parties involved, knew of the potential conflicts?

 

Chris McDaniel lost to Sen. Thad Cochran by less than 8,000 votes in the primary runoff elections in late June of 2014. As reported by Gardner, work had been done to target Mississippi voters. Whether that would have been enough to swing 8,000 votes will never be known. If that was the case, and considering the most recent news of a Cochran staffer being busted for a scheme to trade drugs for sex, Republicans in Mississippi and across the nation deserve to know just whether conflicts played a role.

 

These are simple, but important, questions that require direct answers.

Sen. Harken Joins the Democrats' War on Women

Iowa's retiring U.S. Senator Democrat Tom Harkin released his inner male chauvinist yesterday and joined the Democrats' despicable war on woman disparaging Republican:

"Well, I hear so much about Joni Ernst. She is really attractive, and she sounds nice.

Well I got to thinking about that. I don’t care if she’s as good looking as Taylor Swift or as nice as Mr. Rogers, but if she votes like Michele Bachmann, she’s wrong for the state of Iowa."

You can watch Harkin's sexist remarks, as well as a discussion about the remarks with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC's Morning Joe and Wall Street Journal White House correspondent Carol Lee in the following video:

Brzezinski gets it right when she says that there is a double standard when it comes to politicians making sexist comments.

"If a Republican said that, it would be over. Can you imagine a female candidate saying that about a male? I can’t, it just wouldn’t happen."

Harkin, who will be 74 this month and has been in Congress for 40 years, ought to know better. 

Joni Ernst is a Republican member of the Iowa Senate, and also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. She served in Operation Iraqi Freedom will be the first female combat veteran in the Senate if she wins tomorrow.

The latest Des Moines Register Iowa Poll, conducted Oct. 28-31, finds Ernst now has a 7-point lead. The Register quotes pollster J. Ann Selzer as saying, "This race looks like it’s decided." And Politico reports that Selzer "has a long track record of correctly predicting elections in the Hawkeye State." 

 

School choice the hot nonpartisan midterm election issue

 Photo credit: j neuberger via photopin cc

Less than a month until November's midterm election and school choice has become a hot issue. We see it in states such as Arizona  Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin, to name a few. 

Kevin Chavous, Executive Counsel for the American Federation for Children, says that school choice is not a partisan issue -- it is increasingly an issue that is bringing Democrats and Republicans together. Chavous is quoted in the Washington Times saying the momentum lies with those in favor of school choice programs:

"Everywhere we have these programs, there’s really the demand to grow them. It is a movement that is not going anywhere. It’s going to continue to grow."

The Times also points out that former state Sen. Ann Duplessis, who helped kill an early voucher bill that came before the state legislature nearly a decade ago, now thinks the tide has shifted since Hurricane Katrina:

"I believe we are at a point now where the traditional, say, African-American Democrat, they get it — we get it now,” she said. “We get it. The goal here is just to ensure that as we innovate, that we can try to get as many of the kids who are being impacted — that we’re trying not to leave anybody behind."

You can watch the Wall Street Journal's Mary Kissel discuss the role school choice is playing in the midterm Senate and gubernatorial elections with American Federation for Children Executive Counsel Kevin Chavous in the following video:

 ____

Franklin School Choice Fellow

Mike Turner a clear choice in OK-05

 

Right Side Politics: http://www.examiner.com/article/mike-turner-a-clear-choice-ok-05

The Republican choice could not be more clear in Oklahoma’s fifth congressional district. It's more status quo versus Mike Turner, a consistent, next generation Conservative. 

Voters in the fifth congressional district must choose from a crowded field of candidates, but it really is cut and dry. Mike Turner, a 27-year-old engineer and state representative who has already a record of standing up for the Constitution and keeping the promises he made to his constituents.

Turner toppled a moderate Republican incumbent in 2012. In that race he shunned special interest contributions in favor of old fashioned hard work -- shoe leather, hand shaking, and visiting more than 10,000 district residents to win an upset victory.

Since then, Turner has delivered. He bucked his party and said no to a state budget that didn't cut taxes or spending and authored a bill halting wasteful subsidies on green energy.

Most recently, Turner authored legislation protecting Oklahoma gun owners from backdoor bureaucratic regulations. Governor Mary Fallin vetoed the bill and found herself overridden for the first time, a move hailed by the NRA and other pro-Second Amendment groups. Turner's efforts have resulted in an endorsement from Gun Owners of America. 

The district he’s now seeking to serve in Congress is heavily Republican, making it another one in which we have no excuse for not sending a solid Conservative to Washington. Chances like these can’t be overlooked in the face of higher profile battles.

Which brings us to the others in the race. 

Clark Jolley is regarded as the front runner by many, largely due to his name recognition due to his time in the state Senate. Jolley should be rejected. He has taken campaign contributions from former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Turpen, who was also Hillary’s 2008 campaign chair in Oklahoma. As well as former Democrat Party Executive Director and union leader Pat Hall. In addition Jolley penned legislation to create an ObamaCare state exchange and implement Common Core.

Another contender is Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Patrice Douglas. She’s led the fundraising thus far, and like Jolley, Douglas has accepted contributions from Democrats including former Democrat Party Executive Director and union leader Pat Hall. As the mayor of Edmon, Oklahoma, Douglas backed hiking electric rates by 8 percent in 2009, water and sewage rates by 10-20 percent the next year. Douglas is also a former president of Spirit Bank. She left that post the same year Spirit got $30 million in TARP funding, which the bank subsequently failed to repay.

I might be an idealist, but the choice couldn't be clearer here. More status quo with some questionable ties to folks probably more "ready for Hillary" than not. That’s not Conservative.

Then there’s Mike Turner, a fresh voice and Conservative. He’s a millennial who already has been successful in business and at legislating. Also, he doesn't take donations from lobbyists, PACs, or special interests, so the chances of contribution shenanigans like those of Jolley or Douglas are slim to none.

Turner will be a powerful voice for Conservatives in Congress. We just need to help him get there.

Obama Administration actions decrease opportunity to get ahead

More bad polling for President Obama and the Democrats.

A  recent National Journal/Heartland Monitor poll finds that Americans don't believe that Obama's administration is able to make a positive difference in their lives.  By a margin of 46 percent to 25 percent, respondents say the actions of the Obama administration "decrease opportunity" for people to get ahead.

On a number of key issues Obama claims to focus on, respondents said America is on the wrong track:

• Reducing poverty
• Improving access to healthcare and reducing costs
• Growing the economy and creating jobs
• Keeping a college education affordable
• Making it easier to start and run a business
• Improving the quality of K-12 education

The new poll shows that Americans reject President Obama's bigger government approach to everything. Seventy percent believe the country needs "major changes." But only 19 percent say that change should be led by the federal government -- 42 percent say the change should be led by "average Americans."

According to the poll, people still believe average Americans can affect their neighborhood (90 percent), and the country (71 percent). By a margin of 74 percent to 18 percent, people say “average Americans” have been more responsible for major social changes than government leadership.

Worse for the President and his Obamacrats, the contrary, the poll respondents cut across the usual partisan divides. The poll was evenly split between Republicans (23 percent) and Democrats (25 percent) and included plenty of Independents (47 percent). Almost half (47 percent) identified themselves as middle class. And was it evenly split among males (49 percent) and females (51 percent).

Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative, gets it:

"Is there a more serious indictment of the agenda of this White House than the clear belief by so many Americans that this administration is reducing opportunity rather than expanding it? People are right to be wary of big government and its power to stifle opportunity. Americans are looking more and more to individuals and community groups as the drivers of change and social Welfare. While our faith in each other is one of the things that makes America great, we should be deeply concerned that big government policies increasingly stand in the way of individual well-being, success and prosperity.

[. . .]

It's far past time for a change in direction - one that limits spending, balances our Budget, reduces excess Regulation, and promotes economic opportunity. Average Americans are calling for it - and they will ultimately be the ones who insist on it." 

Poll results such as this and organizations such as The LIBRE Initiative offer hope that Obama's ever bigger, more intrusive and stifling government can and will be turned back. 

The 2014 midterm election is starting to feel more and more like 2010.

Veracity in West Virginia 2

I have not followed the race for West Virginia's Second Congressional District until yesterday. I became interested in the race when I was provided documents revealing that one of the seven Republican candidates, Ken Reed, has an issue with his veracity. The documents clearly establish that Reed was less than forthcoming in a sworn statement he made.

The Facts

Ken Reed is a pharmacist. Unfortunately, in 2003, Reed submitted an Application for a new pharmacy permit to the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy. In the Application Reed "swore or affirmed" that no disciplinary action had ever been taken against his "Pharmacy Registration." That is apparently not true.

In 1999, the Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs found that Reed violated "Section 5(a)(10)of the Pharmacy Act by virtue of the disciplinary action taken against his West Virginia pharmacy license by the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy [see Adjudication and Order]."

That finding clearly shows that what Reed swore to in his 2003 application was not truthful.

The Issue

I do not support any of the seven candidates in this Republican primary race. My purpose in reporting this issue is to make sure the issue is known before next week's primary election. The documents are out there. If Reed should win the May 13 primary, the documents may be used against him. So existence of the documents, and the veracity issue the documents raise, should be known to the Republican primary voters before they choose their candidate.

Perhaps the voters of the second Congressional District of West Virginia don't care about this. Perhaps they don't think veracity is important. Nevertheless, they deserve to know before they choose their candidate.

After all the order of Pennsylvania Board of Pharmacy quoted above was not harsh. The discipline was based upon Reed having made a "number of dispensing errors" on one day. According to the findings of fact, the errors occurred as he "a sixth straight 12-hour day because the pharmacist-in-charge was on vacation." The errors were quickly rectified and no patient was harmed. All of which makes one wonder why Reed would not admit to the discipline in his 2003 Application.

This race is to replace seven-term Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, who is seeking the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Democrat Jay Rockefeller.

Move Connecticut Right

In Connecticut, in order to win the Lieutenant Governor nomination, a candidate has to make it out of the party convention with at least 15% of the vote. Then, the candidate has to win a primary. 

Currently, there are three candidates in contention for the Lieutenant Governor nomination heading into the convention, which will take place on May 17: Penny Bacchiochi, Heather ​Somers and David Walker. By rights, Bacchiochi should be the winner of the convention, and Walker should fail to make the cut. But conventions are, of course, somewhat unpredictable, and if Bacchiochi doesn't win the Republican nomination, it could have big consequences for the state GOP's prospects this November.

Bacchiochi is pretty conservative for Connecticut. She is a fiscal and limited government conservative, who has served in the state legislature for six terms. Every year since 2007, she has offered and voted for budgets that do not increase taxes. She serves in House Republican leadership. She beat an incumbent Democrat her first time running for her seat, becoming the first Republican and the first woman to represent her district in decades. Her district leans Democratic, so Bacchiochi knows how to win in environments that are not inherently friendly to Republicans (relevant in a statewide race in Connecticut). She has deep Connecticut roots, is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, owns and runs a business. She also has six sons, and is married to a Nigerian immigrant.

Bacchiochi has been endorsed by the Connecticut College Republicans and 26​-​year-old New Britain mayor Erin Stewart, which suggests she may be able to appeal ​to younger voters ​better than other Republicans. She has a record number of endorsements from fellow state legislators​, demonstrating her appeal across the conservative coalition​. She is also endorsed by the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen​ for her strong support of the Second Amendment​. She has support across the state, which is important given the occasional regional divides in Connecticut GOP politics. She ​has​, as of mid-April, raised more campaign funds than the other Republican Lieutenant Governor candidates, ​-- banking  $100,000, with more still flowing in​. Also, for some delegates, it matters that she is a she ​ ​-- fair or not, Connecticut Republicans seem to have fared better when there is a woman on the Governor-Lieutenant Governor ticket​, and the last Republican governor was a woman​.

Walker, the other candidate who has been attracting a lot of attention in this race, has his base in Fairfield County (where he now lives, having bought former Rep. Chris Shays' house in 2009). He has held a number of federal government appointments in Washington, D.C., including in the Bush 41 and Clinton administrations. He has also been involved with the No Labels movement and was the CEO of the Comeback America Initiative. In principle, this sounds impressive, but there are a few aspects of Walker's record that are giving Connecticut Republicans significant pause and should, all things being equal, present a challenge for Walker during the convention.

First, Walker deregistered as a Republican​ before joining the Clinton administration​, supposedly in order to serve in the federal government roles he worked in​.​ ​However, ​many question whether this was ​​really necessary​,​ ​​​​​or if  the ​disaffiliation was more a reflection of ​Walker's personal philosophical shifts than any job requirement​. That​ ​might explain his involvement with No Labels and claims that he ​did not re-register as a Republican until quite recently. Some Walker foes are claiming he is still not registered as a Republican, ​which I have not been able to confirm, but which if true would be troubling for a number of delegates.

Second, his involvement with No Labels rubs a number of conservatives and the party faithful the wrong way.

Third, the Comeback America Initiative that he founded and ran as CEO advocated for letting all​ the Bush/Obama tax cuts expire, raising the capital gains tax rate, instituting the Buffett Rule, keeping the estate tax on the books, temporary tax increases and more federal health care spending.

Fourth, Walker has been attacking his female opponents fairly relentlessly, suggesting they are unqualified for office and have no experience when in one case, the qualifications and experience mentioned above clearly apply, and in the other, the candidate also has experience in Connecticut government and in business. This not only smacks of sexism that some Republicans fear could give Democrats room to attack Walker using the "War on Women" line quite effectively should he be nominated​. ​This also underlines that his experience in government is Washington, D.C., Beltway-based, as opposed to Connecticut-based. Since the job he's running for is ​based in Hartford and ​all about Connecticut government, that may be a challenge for him. In short, there are questions about whether, if nominated, Walker could appeal across the state, attract the votes of ​conservatives in the state (as distinct from the votes of Democrats and Independents, which any GOP candidate will need to get a share of in order to win), and whether he would be particularly susceptible to the Democrats' attacks while offering Republicans little to get excited about.

Somers, the third candidate, seems to be regarded as a better choice than Walker by delegates, but her experience is at the very local level, which may not suit the Lieutenant Governor's role as well as Bacchiochi's experience does. There are also some questions about fiscal decisions in her town under her tenure as mayor (she appears to have raised property taxes and run budget deficits)​.

The bottom line here is that Bacchiochi looks like the strongest choice for the Republican Lieutenant Governor nomination. A far far stronger choice than Walker, about whom much ​Beltway ​buzz has focused. Convention delegates should compare and contrast these two candidates before the convention. There's a good reason to believe that Bacchiochi, the most conservative candidate in this race and can win in November. While Bacchiochi is not as conservative as candidates RedState supports in actual red states, she would move Connecticut government in a positive direction while potentially expanding the party's appeal and presenting a fresh face that differs from what many people inside and outside the state tend to think of when they imagine a "Republican."

Young people growing more disillusioned and disconnected from Washington

A new Harvard Institute of Politics (IOP) poll of 18- to 29- year-olds finds young people are growing more disillusioned and disconnected from Washington.

IOP Polling Director John Della Volpe said, "There’s an erosion of trust in the individuals and institutions that make government work — and now we see the lowest level of interest in any election we’ve measured since 2000 [when the poll began]."

The new poll shows 18- to 29- year-olds' trust in public institutions at a five-year low.

This disillusion is expected to result in low participation in November's midterm elections. Less than one-in-four (23%) of young Americans say they will "definitely be voting in November. That's down 11 percent from five months ago and 8 percent lower than seen during a similar time prior to the 2010 midterm elections.

Among the most likely voters, the new IOP poll also finds that traditional Republican constituencies are more enthusiastic than Democrats about participating in the upcoming midterms – 44% of 2012 Romney voters say they will definitely be voting – compared to only 35% of 2012 Obama voters. Self-identified conservatives are 10% more likely to vote than liberals; men are 9% more likely to vote than women; and young Whites are 8% more likely to vote than African Americans and Hispanics.

Despite finding President Obama’s job approval rating has improved from last November's historic low (41%), the poll finds a majority disapproved of Obama's handling on every issue measured:

• Climate Change (51%)
• The Economy (61%)
• Iran (59%)
• Health Care (59%)
• The Budget Deficit (66%)
• Syria (62%)
• Student Debt (60%)
• Ukraine (59%)

The 2014 midterm election is starting to feel like 2010.

Chad Mathis is the candidate to watch in 6th Congressional District of Alabama

Conservatives should pay close attention to Alabama’s sixth congressional district.

The candidate to watch in in this race is State Rep. Paul DeMarco. 

Alabama’s sixth district is a very red seat. Rep. Spencer Baucus, who is serving his eleventh term, will retire at the end of this term. So there’s absolutely no excuse to not send a true conservative to replace Baucus. Conservatives can’t afford another faux pas, debt raising Republican or a candidate with an affinity for foot in mouth disease that could cost Conservatives such a golden opportunity.

State Rep. Paul DeMarco, for one, has a litany of issues that makes him an albatross to Conservatives.

DeMarco repeatedly talks the talk, saying things like "anytime you’re asking for a tax increase you’re running into troubled waters." but that hasn't translated into action. DeMarco co-sponsored two tax hikes; one raising tobacco taxes on Jefferson County, Alabama, and the other enabling the county to levy taxes on beer and malt liquor.

Beyond that, DeMarco voted seven times for tax hikes that have cost Yellow Hammer State taxpayers almost $100 million. Repeated votes for higher “fees” have also sucked up millions more for the state government.

Worse, DeMarco also has an addiction to spending, which explains a lot of this. Twice he’s voted to up unemployment benefits; he also opposed an 11 percent spending cut to non-education spending and capping corporate welfare and has repeatedly Ok’d increasing the state’s debt.

He even wanted to bailout Jefferson County with dollars from all over Alabama after its local government filed for bankruptcy.

Not the sort of congresscritter we need.

Gary Palmer also talks a good game. He started the Alabama Policy Institute, a think-tank headquartered in the district. But his past advocacy is hardly conservative.

Palmer's 2003, call for tax reform included musing “we will find that we do need to increase revenues.” His own reform plans called for hiking property taxes, actually going as far as saying that Alabama’s low property tax burden was somehow a bad thing. In an Obama-like move, Palmer also argued that higher income Alabamians should pay more.

All of which makes him a non-starter.

Then there's Will Brooke. The money trail following him suggests he’s in the pocket of the DC establishment. Just this month the NRSCs deputy finance director was caught actively raising cash for Brooke's campaign. A Senate Republican committee aide wading into a contested House primary for a safe Republican seat is something we just should not have to worry about. 

Another candidate, state Senator Scott Beason, has pitched himself as a true conservative and Tea Party voice. We need to be very wary of him, though. He's another Dean Young, better at shock value rhetoric than anything that advances the conservative cause. His penchant for embarrassing us is so great that Ken Blackwell directly pointed him out in a recent op-ed, saying we should steer clear of this humiliation in waiting. 

Blackwell’s also on point when it comes to who Conservatives should be supporting in this race -- Dr. Chad Mathis. He’s a physician, businessman, and first-time candidate for office, and he’s also someone Conservatives and Republicans of all ilk can rally behind.

Mathis has seen first-hand what ObamaCare is doing to our economy and health care system. Unlike most liberals, and probably his opponents, he’s read the monstrous so-called Affordable Care Act in full. And Mathis has made it crystal-clear he won’t waiver in his fight to send ObamaCare to the scrap heap. 

For all of these reasons, Mathis has the support of someone like Ken Blackwell. He’s also endorsed by RedState's Erick Erickson, FreedomWorks PAC, and the Madison Project. Reps. Andy Harris and Phil Roe, also physicians, are actively aiding his campaign and almost 100 Alabama physicians have offered their support as well.

In Congress, Chad Mathis’s voice will be a major asset to the Conservative movement. He’s one of us to be sure, and he won’t embarrass us either. It’s imperative we rally around his candidacy ahead of the June 3rd primary, lest we be made to deal with another non-conservative Republican.

Stealing Texas

The Democrats' efforts to turn Texas blue, Battle Ground Texas, has gone full ACORN.

This week we learned election workers in San Antonio engaged in voter intimidation. 

According to the San Antonio Express-News, two election workers were chastised for steering Hispanic voters to vote Democrat during this week's early 2014 primary voting:

"Two election workers at a Southwest Side polling site were chastised this week after Hispanic Republican voters complained the workers attempted to steer them to the Democratic primary.

Republican officials said one GOP voter claimed she was told Hispanics are supposed to vote Democrat.

[. . .]

Bexar County GOP Chairman Robert Stovall said the GOP received two complaints from Collins Garden, one from the Hispanic woman who claimed she was told 'you are a Hispanic, you're not a Republican.'"

In a written statement dated February 26, 2014, Chairman Stovall made the election workers' misconduct sound much worse than did the Express-News:

"Two days ago we had three separate instances of VOTER INTIMIDATION at the Collin Gardens here in Bexar County where Hispanic voters who asked for Republican primary ballots, but were being pushed Democrats ballots because they were Hispanics.  This unfairly stereotypes all Hispanic voters as being Democrat, when clearly there are not.  There are many Hispanic Republican voters and Hispanic vote who wish to vote a more Conservative option.

This intimidation is just another ACORN tactic used by Battle Ground Texas."

There are plenty of Hispanics in Texas who support conservatives. One organization looking out for their interests is the LIBRE Initiative, which has jumped on this story. Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative released the following statement:

"The nonpartisan officials charged with protecting the integrity of the election process must not politicize it. This is a fundamental rule of our democracy. American Hispanics hold a diversity of views. They don't belong to just one political party. It's insulting and patronizing to act as if they do, and to try to tell them to line up behind candidates who don't reflect their views or advance their interests.

Elections are about the choices of individual Americans. If we can't count on election officials themselves to respect those choices, there are serious problems. The LIBRE Initiative recognizes the diversity of thought withing the Hispanic community, and continues to be committed to advancing those principles."

In the Express-News report, the voter intimidation is downplayed by Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen. He called it "an isolated but regrettable incident."

Is that all it is? 

In his statement, Chairman Stovall pointed to the "misappropriation" of voter information by deputy registrars working in Bexar County as Battle Ground Texas employees. That's a reference to Jessica Longoria, a Deputy Voter registrar in Bexar County, admissions on video that she and her paid Battleground Texas staff took data from new voter registration forms. You can watch Langoria's admissions in the following video:

As Stovall states, "It appears Texas laws were broken" by this malfeasance and flagrant abuse of personal information collected under the guise of registering voters.  Stovall has asked for a "full investigation into the facts is necessary to reassure the public as to the integrity of the registration process." He has also filed a complaint with the Texas Secretary of State.

I tend to credit Stovall's voter intimidation concerns.

After all, the Romney campaign had to request an investigation into potential election fraud in Virginia because of the shenanigans of the DC-based Voter Participation Center which mailed voter-registration forms to deceased relatives, children, and even pets.

Also in the 2012 presidential election the Colorado Secretary of State's Office investigated complaints that voting machines switched votes from Romney to Obama.

And there was the voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party members in 2012 and 2008.

Then there was the voter fraud practiced by ACORN in the 2008 presidential campaign in Ohio, Indiana and other states.

Hopefully, someday the lefties who say that voter ID laws and other anti-fraud measures are not necessary will be overcome by all the evidence of voter fraud and other instances of ineligible voting.